Genetic databases – the tragedy continues

A new review paper about online genetic databases nicely summarizes the current state of the art (including my own efforts). There are only 13 databases with gene-disease associations. Although highly needed by everybody – patients, diagnostic companies, medical doctors, scientists – no database has sufficient funding for realtime monitoring of the scientific literature. Not even one cent of largely funded EU consortia is being invested into human disease-gene database. Database management remains a time consuming, frustrating enterprise as long as institutes don´t share data on a regular basis and as long as databases don´t produce “impact points” – databases in peril.